Kovack Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after purchasing an additional 781,111 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,168,000 after purchasing an additional 71,344 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE CAT traded up $5.38 on Friday, hitting $343.38. 3,324,630 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,414,735. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $350.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.